Moth protecting and destroying device



Jan. 1, 1924 W. J. DUDDLESON MoTH PRTECTING AND DESTROYING DEVICE Filed March '7. 1923 7 @Ho ne 141,4

Patented Jan. 1, 1924.

UNITEDI STATES WILLIAM JEFFERSON' DUDDLESON, 0F SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA.

HQTE PBOTECTING AND DFSTROYING DEVICE.

Application filed March 7, 1923. Serial No. 623,475.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that. I, WILLIAM J. DonninsoN, a citizen. of the United States, residing at San Luis Obispo, in the county of San Luis Obispo and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Moth Protecting and Destroying Devices; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it'appertains to make and use the same.

The presentinvention relates to an insecticidal device for use particularly in the repelling of moths and the destruction of their larvae.

The moths, or tinead insects as known to students of entomology, are more commonly known inthe following three species; the Tineola bz'sseZI/ella hummel, commonly called the clothes moth; lthe Time pellzonella Z/inmeus, commonly called the fur moth; and the Trz'chc haga tapelzella Zz'nnus, which is common y called the carpet moth.

For a long time past the oils of cedar have been recognized as a moth repellant, and the principal constituents ofA the commercial cedar oils, i. e. oil of cedar wood and cedar leaf, are lalcohol cedrol, or cedrol camphor, the sesquiterpene alcohol cedrenol, and the sesquiterpene cedrene.

A great practical difliculty in the use of oils of cedar has been in the determination, of the pro er quantit of the oil proportionately to tlie area o .the enclosure within which it is placed to secure the desired results.

In cedar chests, the oil in the cedar wood of which the chests are made or lined, is of but relatively small strength.; such as from one to two per cent, and gives od a volatilization not to exceed one-three hundredth l-that is; one part of volatile oil to three hundred parts of atmosphere.

It is an object of the ,present invention to provide devices, in the form of block, units, or the like, which carry .practically uniform quantities l of oils of cedar and which are so constructed as to give ofi` volatile oils at a practically predeterminedpercentage for a predetermined length of time; thus insuring, to the certainty, effective use of the cedar oils for the extermination and repelling of moths in enclosures of different sizes by utilizing one or more of the units.

Another object of the invention isto provide an insecticidal device of this character which may be in unit form and composed of a block adapted to be employed in any desired numbers proportionate to the cubical contents of the enclosure, and which may be easily manufactured and used for securin the best results. v f

Vith the foregoing and other objects in View, the invention Will be more fully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings, wherein like symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the unit embodying the featuresof the present invention, and y Figure 2 is a transverse section through the same.

Referring to the drawing, 10 designates the bod portion of the unit which may be of block7 form and of suitable dimensions for easy handling, one size which is found to be of advantage being three-quarters by three-quarters by one-and-one-fourth inches. This body 10 may be composed of wood, compressed saw dust, or any other suitable material or composition capable of being saturated with the oils of cedar. This body 10 is completely saturated with the oils of cedar so that a plurality of the bodies contalin substantially a uniform quantity of the o1 s.

For the purpose of regulating the volatilization of the oils of cedar from the body 10, the body, after complete saturation, is` coated with a thin layer 11 of parain, wax or other sealing agent. This coati is preferably a thin coating and is made o a thickness which regulates the rate'of volatilization so that the device will 'give off a strength, such as from six-three-hundredths to ten three-hundreths for a period of approximately six months. These proportions and figures are merely recited for thev purpose of describing the present embodiment of the invention and may be varied Within practical limits, and show that the unit or device of this invention is designed to contain a predetermined quantity of oils of cedar which may be given off in volatile oil at a requisite volume for a predetermined period of time.

The proportions of the size of the block infrarot;

are based u on experiments and are found when comp etely saturated to give 0E the requisite strength or volatile oil within a closed chamber one by one and one-half by four feet. rlihe block therefore constitutes a unit which may be usedl in multiples of any member for insuring requisite volume of volatile oil in chambers or spaces of different dimensions.

lit is found that the strength above lspecifically set forth has scientifically proven to be complete protection against the larvae. The odor of the oils of cedar'is, at the same time, very pleasing and imparts to clothing, furs linen and laundry a delightful aroma.

lt is obvious that Various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention Without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is l. An insecticidal device comprising a block unit of predeterminedsize and density completely saturated with oil ot cedar, and an external coating of paran on the block for enclosing the oil of cedar and retarding the volatilization thereof.

2. An insecticidal device comprising a block of predetermined size and density saturated With a predetermined quantity of oil of cedar for giving oi a relatively definite volume of volatilization per unit of closed space during a relatively definite period of time, and a coating o paraffin on the block for regulating the volatilization of the oil of cedar.

3. A moth repellant unit adapted to be used in 'multiples and comprising a body portion of predetermined size saturated with oils of cedar or other essential oils Where `used for the same purpose to a predetermined extent, and a layer of volatilizaf tion controlling substance coated on the exterior surface of the body of the unit for slowly liberating the oils of cedar or other oils in an enclosure through a prolonged period of time.

WllLlLllM JEFFERSON DlUDllLllSONn 

